Sunday, 14 February 2016

It’s
Valentine’s Day today.More than 700 $ are
spent every year in the US on gifts for pets.Because Valentine’s Day is associated with love, affection, red roses,
romantic breaks, nice dinners, Champagne, perfume, jewellery, fluffy stuff preferably
pink - the list is endless - , we feel
we have to shower our pets with gifts too because we fear they might miss
out.But what does a dog get out of
it?The simple answer is NOTHING.

A dog
does not know Christmas from birthdays or school holidays or Easter or Labour
Day in the US or August Bank Holiday in the UK.So by giving gifts to a dog on a special human occasion, you are rewarding it but for doing
what?You create confusion.

When training
a dog, you have 3 seconds for rewarding it correctly.

You ask
your dog to sit for instance.He does
so.Give him the treat straightaway.The treat can be your most gentle voice
saying: “good girl or good boy” or a toy or a crumble of cheese or a dog
biscuit or a pat on the head.Something nice.

So the
dog is rewarded because he has done what you asked him to do.

Beyond
the 3 seconds slot, it has no meaning other than “yummy” I am eating something
nice.

Remember
dogs are scavengers.They’ll eat
anything you give them.

A dog
does not have human emotions or human feelings or a human time table. A dog is a pack animal and understands pack
rules.

Friday, 12 February 2016

During the
Middle Ages, mixed breeds of peasants’ dogs were required to wear blocks around their necks to keep them from breeding with noble
hunting dogs. Purebred dogs were very expensive and hunting became the province
of the rich.

Sunday, 7 February 2016

All animals communicate with energy and body language, and it’s easy
to tell just from body language whether they’re fearful or aggressive.
But, beyond body language, for many animals there are three important
body parts with which they communicate.
Animals’ primary methods of communicating are through eye contact, their ear position, and their tails.
When an animal is being defensive or aggressive, it will make eye
contact to tell whatever it’s facing to back off. When an animal is
alert to danger, its ears will stand straight up. But the most important
thing to watch is the tail.

A tail wag is not always friendly
When a cat wags its tail, it’s not being friendly. Its saying, “Watch
out, because I’m going to attack.” When a squirrel wiggles its tail,
it’s saying, “I’m big and I’m threatening, so stay away.”
When a dog wags its tail, though, it could be saying a lot of things,
depending on how it’s wagging. And, in fact, a dog’s tail is probably
one of the most expressive parts of its body, just ahead of its ears.
This is why docking a dog’s tail or cropping its ears hinders the
dog's ability to communicate effectively. These could be compared to
cutting out a human’s tongue and removing their vocal cords. When it
comes to communicating with body language, those ears and tail are a
major way that our dogs speak to each other — and to us.Different tail positions indicate different things
Think of a dog’s tail as the turn-indicator lever in your car. It has
a natural position, and it has two other positions that indicate
different things. When a dog’s tail is in its natural position, it
indicates that the dog is calm and happy — though position varies with
breed. Some dogs have tails that naturally hang down behind their legs,
while others have tails that curl up over their backs. When the tail is
in that natural position and not moving side-to-side, it’s telling you,
“I’m happy. Everything’s cool.”When the tail moves up or down
There are two positions a dog’s tail can move to without moving
side-to-side: up or down. When a dog’s tail moves up, it means that the
dog is becoming more assertive or dominant. It’s like raising a flag,
and the message it’s sending is this: “I’m the dog in charge here.” When
the tail moves down, it’s sending the opposite message: “You’re the dog
in charge here.” And if a dog’s tail curls between its legs, it’s
sending the message, “I’m harmless. Don’t hurt me. I submit.”
A raised tail isn’t necessarily aggressive but a lowered tail is always submissive.When the tail moves side-to-side
This brings us to that wagging bit, when a dog moves its tail from
side-to-side. Now, the natural assumption is that a dog wagging its tail
is happy, but that isn’t necessarily true. As science has shown, it
really all depends on how fast the tail is moving, and to which side it
shows a bias.
If the tail is moving more strongly to the dog’s right, then that dog
is showing positive emotions, like excitement or interest. But if it’s
moving more to the left, it’s showing negative emotions, like anxiety,
fear, or aggression. From a biological standpoint, this makes sense.
That’s because in many animals, including dogs and humans, the left side
of the brain deals with positive behaviors while the right deals with
the negative. Since each side of the brain controls the opposite side of
the body, this leads to a difference in meaning exhibited by the bias
of the wag.
By the way, this wiring of the sides of the brain doesn’t change between people or animals that are right or left handed/pawed.Context is key
So put it all together, and we get this. If a dog’s tail is mostly
wagging to their right and is at or lower than its normal position, then
the dog is saying, “Hey, I’m happy. You’re the boss. It’s all good.”
But if the tail is wagging to the left, and especially if it’s at or
higher than its normal position, then the dog is saying, “Bring it. I’m
in charge here.”Speed plays a role
The one other factor to consider is the speed of the wag. The faster
the tail is moving, the higher the positive or negative energy. Really
fast and low to the dog’s right, really submissive dog. Really fast and
high to the left, walk away. At its most extreme, the tail can appear to
be vibrating instead of wagging. This is definitely the dog to avoid.
No matter the position, though, a slow moving tail indicates a calm
and curious dog, and that’s the dog you can safely approach and get to
know better.

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Thank you to Cornish Dreamer: "Your compassion for animals always shows on the blog entries that you write and I find that to be a compelling reason to continue reading your blog." and to Violets Vintage: "You are an artist because you transform misguided dogs into perfect pets!" and to Winchester Whisperer: "You are the voice of reason."